1000 Islands / Association Island KOA

Directions

For travelers from the south, from Interstate 81, take exit 41 for Adams/Henderson Harbor. Take route 178 West for approximately 10 miles, In Henderson, turn left at the Citgo station. At the flashing red light, go straight. Cross route 3, staying on route 178 West, which is now also called Military Road. (*) Go 2.6 miles, then turn right onto Snowshoe Rd. (You will see the yellow KOA signs or small blue and white road signs with the international symbol of a camper; they do not have our name on it, but they will guide you to our campground.)

For travelers from the north, from Interstate 81, take exit 45 for Watertown. Take Route 3 south for 16.5 miles. At blinking yellow light, turn right on Route 178 west, which is now called Military Road. Continue from (*) above.

Meet Your Hosts

"Doc" and Sue Shim purchased the island property in the early 1980's after stepping foot on it and immediately falling in love with the island. Association Island has a deep history, initially as a corporate retreat for the National Electric Lamp Association (hence the island's name) in the early 1900's. NELA was secretly part-owned by General Electric. When anti-trust laws were enacted, NELA became fully owned GE, and GE continued to bring top management and customers to Association Island for casual retreats until 1959, when GE donated the island to the YMCA as a recreational camp until the 1970's. Thereafter, numerous national and international sailing and wind-surfing competitions were held here, and the US Sailing Team trained here for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Post the Olympics, the sailing operations wound down, and the island became a ghost town and fell into disrepair. Along with its history, the natural beauty of the island made the property a compelling development project, which we finally opened to the public in 2002 as a campground and marina.

We tried to retain many historic aspects of the island, by renovating many of the GE buildings rather than tearing down and re-building everything. Developing and operating Association Island has been a labor of love. Running a campground and marina on an island in particular has many challenges, but we get alot of gratification knowing that we can share the beauty and history of the island with our customers and continue the legacy of running Association Island as a recreational facility. We joined KOA in 2011 to partner with the best campground brand and learn KOA's best practices for operations, facilities, marketing, and customer service. We hope you enjoy Association Island's unique location, fantastic sunsets, and water views as much as we do.